Follow this year’s ceremony online!
On 15 May, the European Commission will celebrate outstanding results made by European academic and research organisations through the implementation of Gender Equality Plans, at the second edition of the Gender Equality Champions Awards Ceremony.
The ceremony will take place in the Berlaymont and will be hosted by Marc Lemaître, Director General for Research and Innovation. The annual prize split into three categories, with recipients awarded €100.000 and a trophy, will be handed in person by Iliana Ivanova, Commissionner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
This event also represents an opportunity for future applicants to learn more on the Prize.
More information on the event here.
Why this prize
The EU Award for Gender Equality Champions aims to
- complement and boost the requirement for higher education and research organisations applying to Horizon Europe to have in place a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) as an eligibility criterion
- be an incentive to advance inclusive gender equality plans and policies in the framework of the new European Research Area (ERA) policy agenda
- act as an enabler for the transformation agenda for universities set in the new ERA, and in line with the new European Strategy for Universities
This prize is also intended to create a community of champions inspiring other academic and research organisations to become gender equality champions themselves, and to raise public awareness of the importance of addressing gender equality in academic and research organisations through institutional change.
Designed by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation), the prize is managed by the European Research Executive Agency (REA) and its winners are selected by an independent expert jury for each prize category.
See Horizon Europe Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area Work Programme 2023-2024 featuring the 2023 Prize (p. 136 of 162).
Categories
There are 3 prize categories:
- Sustainable Gender Equality Champions: Organisations that can demonstrate a significant and sustained record of activity and a high level of achievement through the implementation of their GEP.
- Newcomer Gender Equality Champions: Organisations that have recently started implementing a GEP and can demonstrate the most progress in its implementation and achieved results.
- Inclusive Gender Equality Champions: Organisations that have developed the most innovative inclusive GEP addressing intersections with other social categories such as ethnicity, social origin, sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTI+) or disability.
Applicants can only apply to one of these three categories and winners from the 2022 edition cannot re-apply to another category.
Each prize winner will receive €100,000.
There will be 2 winners in the category “Sustainable Gender Equality Champions”, 1 winner in the category “Newcomer Gender Equality Champions”, and 1 winner in the category “Inclusive Gender Equality Champions”.
Who should apply
The prize is open to universities, higher education institutions, and other research performing organisations (public or private), established in an EU country or a country associated to Horizon Europe.
Rules of contest
Admissibility, Eligibility and Award criteria are detailed in the Rules of Contest, to be read carefully by all applicants before submitting their application:
2022 edition details and winners
This new award is the European Commission's initiative to recognise and celebrate the outstanding results achieved in the implementation of gender equality plans by academic and research organisations.
The winners were announced on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023, by Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, in an Award Ceremony facilitated by Peter Dröll, Director for Prosperity in DG Research and Innovation.
Award ceremony
Winners per category
For this 2022 edition, there were four winning academic institutions. Two winners were rewarded in the Sustainable Gender Equality Champions prize category, one in the Newcomer Gender Equality Champions prize category, and another one in the Inclusive Gender Equality Champions prize category.
Each winner received €100,000.
Organisations that demonstrated a significant and sustained record of activity and a high level of achievement through the implementation of their Gender Equality Plan.
Trinity College Dublin, from Ireland, was rewarded as Sustainable Gender Equality Champions.
Karolinska Institutet, from Sweden, was rewarded as Sustainable Gender Equality Champions.
Organisations that had recently started implementing a Gender Equality Plan and can demonstrate the most progress in its implementation and achieved results.
This year, Maynooth University, from Ireland, was rewarded as a Newcomer Gender Equality Champion.
Organisations that had developed the most innovative inclusive Gender Equality Plan addressing intersections with other social categories such as ethnicity, social origin, sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTI+) or disability.
South East Technological University, from Ireland, was rewarded as an Inclusive Gender Equality Champion.
Contact
For more information on the next call for application, please contact us at REA-HE-GENDER-CHAMPIONS
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu